Country Music Blog: Lady Antebellum

Thanks to Garth Brooks, the Second Harvest Food Bank is now 20,000 cans richer. He had a tractor trailer deliver the good stuff to Knoxville, Tenn.
The Los Angeles Times thinks the 5 percent of people who chose George Jones over Carrie Underwood at Stagecoach got a taste of nuance and lyrics the newbies can't match.

Did Trisha Yearwood cheat in high school? You bet, but only on her yearbook entry.

Naomi Watts tell People she knows Mrs. Keith Urban will be a great mum.

Get a front row "seat" to Lady Antebellum's concert on DeepRockDrive.com. It's on May 16 at 9 p.m. ET and is free for the streaming.

In Nashville, the conventional wisdom has been that radio is most important. It's so pervasive that I've never seen more artists thank radio at awards shows than I do in country music. As important as radio is, I do believe that history books will likely show that April 2008 may be the epicenter of when that equation changed for country artists. Notable events include:

• James Otto debuting Top 5 across all genres, with the most noticeable awareness spike occurring right when online marketing went into high gear.

Read more...

Apparently, the sweet lifestyle of a rock star comes later. Because when I woke up with Lady Antebellum a few days ago, there was none of that sleep-‘til-noon sense of entitlement. Their work ethic was being put to the test, starting at 6 a.m.

That's what time they woke up in Chicago to get the WGN-TV morning news show for their 7 a.m. load-in and then their 8 a.m. start time. All for a little media attention during their multi-city tour to promote their debut album. With the project entering Billboard's country chart in the top position and their first single already in the Top 10, it's apparently working. Read more...

For the last four months, I've seen runners on nearly every major street in Nashville, getting in their miles for the Country Music Marathon and Half-Marathon. Finally, the race is this Saturday, and when it's all over, the athletes will be rewarded with a free concert by new country band, Lady Antebellum, as well as rock ‘n' roll legend, Steve Cropper.

Read more...

In an excerpt from author Joe Nick Patoski's new book, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, you can start to see how Nelson's stubborn ways earned him his icon status.

There is nothing new about him, and that's just what The Tennessean digs about George Strait and his latest album.

Does marrying a musician increase your earnings? This story takes a close look at what star nuptials -- like Tim & Faith -- do to sales.

Lady Antebellum hits People.com to talk about meeting each other, stumbling onto a band name and stocking the bus with Sour Patch Kids. And band member Charles Kelley opens up to the Charlotte Observer about how he just wasn't cut out for the working life in North Carolina.

I have always been fascinated by the Academy of Country Music's "top new" nominations. Looking over the past winners, you sometimes have to ask yourself, "Who's that?"

Some years, fresh country female artists must have been in short supply, considering the top new female vocalist winners who are mostly forgotten now: Kay Adams, Cathie Taylor and Cheryl Poole in the 1960s; Billie Jo Spears, Christy Lane and Lacy J. Dalton in the 1970s; Terri Gibbs, Karen Brooks, Gus Hardin and Judy Rodman in the 1980s; and Michelle Wright, Chely Wright and Jessica Andrews in the 1990s. Even in the 2000s, it seems that past winners Jamie O'Neal and Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Kellie Coffey are yesterday's news. In 2003, the Academy skipped the category altogether, handing out a "Top New Artist" trophy instead. Can we please go back to that? Women will still have a shot, of course; Gretchen Wilson won the ACM's "Top New Artist" a year later.

This year, in the category of Top New Duo or Vocal Group, this year's ACM nominees are ... Carolina Rain (the album tanked in 2006), Lady Antebellum (whose debut record doesn't come out for another six weeks) and The Wreckers (who aren't together anymore). In the top new male vocalist category, you've got Luke Bryan, Jack Ingram and Jake Owen - all of whom have just one Top 10 hit to their credit. Top female vocalist nominees are Sarah Buxton (whose album was never released), Kellie Pickler (who's selling pretty well) and Taylor Swift (who is certain to win - and most likely will be remembered by the general public five years from now).